DESCRIPTION: This Keystone Symposium is a one of a kind meeting that focuses on multicellular eukaryotic parasites that are a major cause of morbidity in the world. This will be the third meeting; the last meeting was in 1996. The symposium is designed not just to present the recent findings in the field of molecular helminthology, but also to take advantage of the molecular and genetic systems available from other multicellular eukaryotic worms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans. The task is to integrate the vast knowledge available from C. elegans with that available from parasitic helminths and translate that information into relevant directions in the study of parasitic helminths. Young scientists (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) should benefit greatly from the exposure to approaches that utilize the vast amounts of available genomic information to enhance our understanding of diseases. Other meetings include some helminth studies, such as the Gordon Conference, Molecular Parasitology at Woods Hole, and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All but the Woods Hole meeting are broad in scope. All have a major component that deals with protozoan parasites; in the Molecular Parasitology meeting, 99% of the papers are about protozoan parasites. The Keystone Symposium is unique in that it uses information such as the complete genome sequence from C. elegans to gain insights into pathways that will be targets for intervention and control of helminth parasites. Research on helminth parasites is underrepresented, in part due to a lack of a good genetic system for study. The integration of the C. elegans approach to helminth research may spur needed advances in parasitic helminth research. Among this conference's goals is to inspire young scientists who will set the direction for the future.